


hover

by what_a_dork_fish



Series: Cheriks [8]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 01:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10980312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/what_a_dork_fish/pseuds/what_a_dork_fish
Summary: Erik learns to levitate.





	hover

“ERIK!”

Erik jolts in his seat, nearly dropping his copy of Charles’ thesis. In a split second, he realizes that Charles is excited, not afraid or angry, and his pounding heart stops trying to choke him. “What?” he snaps, quickly hiding the thesis behind his leg. “This better be important.”

Charles beams at him, eyes feverishly bright and the bags under them very prominent. “I have an idea for an experiment concerning your abilities!” tumbles from his lips in a breathless rush, “Please meet me on the terrace in five minutes!”

And then he dashes away, leaving Erik to stare at the open door.

After a moment, Erik sighs heavily and stands, tucking the thesis under the chair cushion. Then he drags on his coat and goes out to the terrace.

Of course Charles is already there, hands on his hips, leg bouncing impatiently. He smiles again when he sees Erik, though. It’s almost completely dark, just enough light to see the sweetness in that smile, the giddy excitement, the surety that this will work. Shadows erase the dark circles under his eyes. He looks like a young man bursting to tell his friend something important and wonderful.

“Erik, my friend, how do you feel about heights?” Charles asks, before Erik can demand what he wants. The latter stares at the former for a moment.

“...I don’t mind them,” he says, refraining from pointing out that he has already proven that he is 100% comfortable with being on top of a damn satellite.

“You know how the magnetism of the Earth works better than I, of course.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever tried using it to fly?”

“...what.”

Charles claps his hands together and rubs them gleefully. The beaming grin is becoming slightly mad-scientist-like and it makes Erik very uncomfortable. “I had a thought that perhaps you could magnetize the bottoms of your feet, you know, to hover off the ground, so I’ve been reading everything in the house about magnetism, but there isn’t very much of course so practical tests are needed and you have such fine control already I’m sure you can do it!”

His words speed up until they’re nearly unintelligible at the end of that run-on sentence, so Erik steps forward and speaks while he takes a deep breath. “That is a very interesting idea, Charles, but could this not wait until morning? You need sleep.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine, I’ve stayed up far longer before. And if we don’t try it now we’ll get distracted tomorrow and it will be harder to find time.”

“How long have you been awake?” Erik asks abruptly.

“Forty-one hours,” Charles replies promptly.

Erik sighs.

“Please?” Charles actually, honest-to-G-d  _ pouts _ at Erik, and lord forgive him, he folds.

“Alright, fine.” He shrugs out of his coat and tosses it to Charles, who catches it easily, delighted that Erik is going along with him. “What do you want me to do?”

“Focus on the magnetic fields in the Earth, first.” Charles shakes out Erik’s coat and slings it around his own shoulders. It’s too big for him, but he looks so sweet, and now that he’s more focused the mad-scientist look has left him, and Erik feels like smiling. But instead he frowns at the ground, takes a deep breath, and lets the old angers and hurts take him over.

He can sense it immediately, old and slow and powerful and pleasantly cool. It tastes of iron, of the core of this planet, and when he blinks he can almost see it, a tangle of shimmering wires. He’s never focused solely on the Earth, and it is… surprising, how easily his awareness stretches along the lines, mapping the general terrain and feeling everything metal within a radius larger than he’s ever tried before. He shifts his weight, and blinks as the invisible tangles in the intangible wire shift. Oh…  _ he’s _ moving them. He raises his arms slightly, hands splayed, palms towards the ground, and feels the wires move with him. They act like Charles isn’t even there, but they… they  _ like _ Erik. As much as such a concept can “like” anything.

He focuses on the ground, the flagstones beneath his feet. Not much there; tiny specks of metal, nothing he can do anything with. The concrete beneath, and then the earth, have metal bars in them. The magnetic lines are strong, running North and South unerringly. He breathes deep and feels his awareness being drawn in all directions…

“Erik?”

“Hm?” He opens his eyes, the lines humming just under his thoughts. Charles is smiling, as if in wonder. He looks very cute in Erik’s too-big jacket. “Oh, yes. What now?”

“You’ve got it? Excellent, I knew you could do it!” Charles applauds, and there is no trace of patronization in his tone or face; just clean, honest admiration. “Now, focus on your body’s natural electricity and see if--”

“Natural electricity?” Erik interrupts, incredulously.

“Yes, it’s really quite a wonderful discovery, that living beings such as you and I generate our own electricity!” Charles beams again and Erik softens. “And electricity can be used to magnetize, yes?”

“Yes, of course.”

“So, is it possible to focus on the electricity on the bottoms of your feet to make you magnetic?”

Erik thinks about this for a long moment, the Earth’s magnetic field a soft, comforting hum in the back of his head. “That would require aligning electrons,” he begins slowly, “Which would probably be painful. I can try magnetizing the rest of the metal on my person.”

“Hmm.” Charles chews his lip thoughtfully and Erik has the fleeting urge to kiss him. “That would definitely be easier. Alright. Can you show me?”

Erik focuses on his belt buckle, on the eyelets of his boots, and, against his better judgement, on the metal in his own blood, which he has always been able to feel. He closes his eyes and tries to split his concentration; feeling the metal, the Earth, and the riot of anger and hate. Carefully, he forces them into alignment, wincing as tingles of discomfort flush through him, the metal within reacting surprisingly quickly. The eyelets are first. His buckle is next. And then, finally, he has the particles polarized.

He opens his eyes. His arms have risen a little of their own volition, and he feels… weightless. Like swimming, except it takes quite a bit more concentration. He looks up at Charles, eyes wide. The darkness is seeping further into the sky and enfolding the manor and grounds in night, but Charles’ bright eyes are still visible. He’s still smiling. The wonder and admiration on his face are so strong they make Erik lose concentration, and then he thumps to the ground. He’d been hovering several inches.

Charles claps his hands once and clasps them under his chin. When did he put his arms through the sleeves of Erik’s coat? “I knew you could do it,” he breaths, and his eyes are shining and his smile is wide and it would be so easy, so, so easy, to just take a few steps forward and bend down those last few inches and--

Erik steps forward, impulses too strong to ignore--but just as he moves, Charles collapses. He just falls straight down, like a puppet with cut strings, and Erik lunges to catch him. Charles’ face ends up smushed against Erik’s neck, and he hangs limply in Erik’s arms except for the single hand clutching weakly at the front of his shirt.

“I suppose I’m more tired than I thought,” Charles mumbles. Then, “You smell good.”

Erik hefts Charles up into his arms, turns, and walks back to the manor. “You’re not thinking straight,” he tells the telepath frankly. “You’ll feel better after you sleep.”

“Mmm.” Charles noses up the side of Erik’s neck and sighs against the soft spot just below his ear. “Probably. Will you stay with me? Just until I’m asleep, of course.”

What Erik wants to say is “No,” or maybe “Stop doing that,” or maybe even “Who gave you the right to make me want you?” But instead he answers, “Of course.”

~

He practices constantly.

When no one is around, of course. He feels silly, wobbling in the air like a baby on the ground, and sometimes he gets so worked up that he has to go run laps around the manor to cool his temper. He learns, though, the best way to hold his arms, how to turn in a circle, how to move in directions other than North or South. He learns that it’s best to keep his feet still and together when he hovers, because attempting to walk on the ever-wavering magnetic fields is nearly impossible. He learns not to touch electronics when he’s levitating because the electricity he has to produce will fry them. He still feels a little silly, but it’s also very… freeing. Even if he can’t manage more than two feet off the ground right now.

Charles asks him if he’s practicing a few days later, when they’re washing dishes together. In reply, Erik reaches for the magnetic lines and rises a foot and a half.

“Oh,” Charles breathes, eyes wide with awe and delight. “You’ll be flying in no time!”

Erik smirks as he sinks back to the floor. “Thank you for your faith in me,” he replies graciously.

“Are you going to tell the others?”

Erik likes that question. It doesn’t presume things. “No.”

Charles nods and does not say anything else about it, but he seems pleased about something. He starts talking about some experiments he’s been doing with Hank and how they’re considering rebuilding Cerebro, and Erik just listens, letting Charles’ chatter soothe him. He likes when Charles just talks. It’s not exactly lecturing, but it’s not exactly conversation, and Erik likes it.

An idea occurs to him. He sets the last plate aside, wraps his arm around Charles’ waist, and tries to get them both to rise.

“Erik, what’re you--oh!”

He grins as Charles levitates with him, both a full two feet off the ground, and squeezes Charles a little closer. Then he notices the look on Charles’ face, and immediately lowers them. “Did that hurt?”

“No, it just felt… very peculiar.” Charles hesitates, then turns to look up at Erik. “Again, please?” And here comes the Hopeful Puppy look, which always makes Erik give in, no matter what Charles asks. He could tell Erik to jump in a volcano and he’d do it as long as Charles was making that face.

Erik wraps his arms around Charles’ waist, pulling him close, and kisses his neck, smiling as Charles sucks in a startled breath. “How can I say no to that?” he murmurs, and levitates them both again.

Charles laughs breathlessly, hands tight on Erik’s shoulders. “Like static all over,” he whispers. “Erik, this is amazing.  _ You’re _ amazing.”

“Why, thank you, Charles. Whatever did I do to deserve such praise?”

Charles chuckles. “Fishing for more compliments?”

“Maybe,” Erik murmurs, brushing another kiss against Charles’ neck. Charles sighs and tilts his head, an open invitation, and Erik takes it, nipping and sucking--

Charles suddenly goes rigid. “Someone’s coming,” he whispers.

Erik sets them both down, and they get back to their washing. There is always later. And Erik wants to know if he can hover while laying down.  Maybe Charles will help him practice that.

He smiles to himself.


End file.
